Dispelling nutrition myths, ranting, and occasionally, raving

Tag Archives: food insecurity

Continuing on with my ranting discussion about food security, I can’t help but comment on a study out of England that was getting huge media attention over the past couple of weeks. The study showed that “pound for pound” it was less expensive to eat healthy foods than to eat ultra-processed foods. The majority of the news stories concluded that poor people could be eating healthfully they just prefer to pay more for “taste and convenience”, according to one of the study’s authors. To which I say, check your privilege.

As I’ve said before, food insecurity is not a matter of simple math. While there are certainly myriad factors that contribute to our decisions about what to eat, lack of income is the root cause of food insecurity. Dismissing money as a concern on the basis of this study is wishful thinking more than anything. It’s also an insult to people who are struggling to make ends meet and feed themselves and their families.

Because some researchers went to the store and found that a pound of carrots is cheaper than a pound of french fries, the logical conclusion is that everyone should be able to afford to eat nutritious meals prepared from minimally processed ingredients? That seems like quite the leap to me. There’s no accounting for calories or ease of preparation in this comparison. Sure, a pound of vegetables may be less expensive than a pound of frozen ready-meals but I think that most people would agree that carrots do not make a balanced meal on their own. To make a nutritionally balanced meal, you’d need to round those carrots out with some dark green leafy veg, some protein like meat, fish, beans, or tofu (the authors acknowledge that meat and fish are the exception to their affordability rule), and a grain such as rice, quinoa, or whole grain bread. As most of these items need to be purchased in quantities greater than those needed for a single meal, it can quickly become more expensive to buy ingredients for a home cooked meal than it is to buy something already, or nearly, prepared. Yes, pound for pound, a bag of rice will be less expensive than frozen dinners but a bag of rice doesn’t make for much of a meal.

Stop trying to use your research to “prove” that poor people are choosing to feed their children junk. Take a good hard look at your own privilege and ask yourself how you can make this a more equitable society in which we try to help those who are struggling rather than shaming and blaming them.

I know that I, and many others, have said it before (and I’m sure we’ll all say it again) but as long as there are articles like this coming out, it needs to be said that food charity is not the solution to food insecurity.

I’m certain that the students who came up with the idea of the United States Postal Service delivering food that would otherwise be thrown out to food banks and meal programs across the country was well-meaning. This may also help to reduce food waste, but it won’t decrease rates of food insecurity.

For those who haven’t read any of my ranting on food insecurity before, and who aren’t familiar with the subject, food insecurity is “the inadequate or insecure access to food due to financial constraints”. Food insecurity can mean not having enough food to eat, not knowing if you’ll be able to afford to eat tomorrow, not having access to safe nutritious food. It’s not a constant state. A person may be food insecure at certain times of month, certain times of the week, certain points of the year, or for periods throughout their lifetime. An important part of the definition to note is the “financial constraints“. Food insecurity is caused by inadequate income and no amount of donated food is going to solve that.

We may feel good about donating food or money to help others who are in need. There’s nothing wrong with that. But we need to stop kidding ourselves into believing that we’re fixing poverty and food insecurity through charity. The real solution to these problems is systemic change. It’s things like a basic income, living wages, increased social benefits, decreased precarious employment.

Trying to solve the problem of food waste is admirable but let’s not conflate the issue of food waste with food security.

Like this:

I was reading this article a couple of weeks ago and was bothered by a couple of minor errors. The article’s kind of all over the place so I wasn’t even sure that I would bother blogging about it but since, as I type this, I’m at the airport waiting for my delayed flight to arrive I figured that I may as well.

Well, actually food insecurity is much more complex than “hunger” and people who cannot afford adequate, nutritious food very often fall into that group of people experiencing food insecurity. For a nice concise one-pager about food insecurity, check out this factsheet from Dietitians of Canada. Also, obviously, just because someone is hungry doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re experiencing food insecurity. Food insecurity is a result of inadequate income; not a strenuous workout or a light lunch.

Issue #2:

none of the flour available to consumers is ground from GMO grains.

While genetically modified wheat is not commercially available, corn flour would often be produced from GM corn. Many gluten-free flours contain ingredients such as sugar beets that are genetically modified.

Issue #3:

Gluten-free is very popular right now, but even if you are one of the 1% of Americans with celiac disease, marketers are fooling you. Whole Foods sells “gluten-free” baby shampoo. First, please don’t eat baby shampoo. Second, gluten is a protein found in wheat. Meats, cheeses and personal care products don’t normally have wheat in them.

Actually, many shampoos and other personal care products do contain wheat. For children who have celiac disease or who are following a ketogenic diet for epilepsy, their doctors may advise parents to ensure all such products are gluten-free to err on the side of caution. Kids are curious, many of them will put soap in their mouths, or eat shampoo bubbles. I don’t think making cautious parents feel foolish is helpful. Maybe that’s just me though. Whole meats and cheeses do not contain gluten but breadings or sauces may contaminate these foods, pre-shredded cheese may have flour added to prevent clumping, and some cheeses are cultured on gluten-containing grains.

Aside from these issues, I agree with the author’s assertion that food-borne illness is a real concern. I think that this will continue to grow as we see a decreasing number of manufacturers producing an increasing amount of our food. We should also avoid food fads and endeavour to improve our scientific literacy.

My first thought when I saw that Maple Leaf was launching a new food security centre was: “do we really need another food security organization in Canada?” As much as I love that this issue is gaining traction and increased attention, there are already a number of organizations in Canada working to promote food security (on a national level: PROOF an excellent research centre in Toronto, and Food Secure Canada). Not to mention all of the organizations that are working to fight poverty, which is the root cause of food insecurity.

As I read the article, I was impressed by the academic names attached. Although, I do find it rather telling that of the seven board members, four of them are Maple Leaf employees. My inner (okay not so inner) cynic can’t help but wonder if this is more of a public relations exercise for Maple Leaf than a true effort to increase food security of Canadians. Indeed, by the current projects they plan to support, I don’t anticipate that they’ll reach their goal of reducing food insecurity in Canada by 50% by 2030.

The projects they plan to support through their innovation fund are: an urban farm, community food hubs through a provincial food bank, and FoodShare. All of which are fantastic initiatives which will bolster food literacy in participants, but will likely have little impact on food security rates in Canada.

Dare I suggest that Maple Leaf might better tackle food security issues by addressing internal employment practices. Their lowest paid employees are making minimum wage and it sounds as though many struggle to attain a healthy work-life balance. Both of these issues are important factors in promoting food security. Meanwhile, the CEO of the company made the list of the top 100 highest paid CEOs in Canada last year; pulling in a cool $5,239,735. This sort of inequity does not lend itself to promotion of food security. Perhaps Maple Leaf should work on getting their own ducks in a row, and ensure that their own employees are all food secure, before bragging that they’ll be spending the equivalent of less than twice their CEO’s salary on a new food security centre over five years. Additionally, rather than creating a new food security centre, they could donate the money to organizations like PROOF, Living Wage Canada, Food Secure Canada, and other organizations working to fight poverty across the country.

If we truly want to ensure Canadians are food secure we need to stop thinking about it as a food charity issue and start thinking about it as an income and equity issue. Food drives and food bank donations may make us feel good about ourselves and help to put a little bit of food in the mouths of hungry people but they do nothing to promote food security. If anything, these programs allow government off the hook as they can pretend that communities are doing their work for them by providing for those in need. As individuals we can make sure our elected officials are aware that we support a basic income guarantee and living wages. The media can help to get this message out there. Employers can help to ensure food security for their employees by providing job security, adequate wages, work-life balance, and benefits packages. The government(s) can create policies that will see a basic income guarantee and living wage put in place across Canada.

Bonus post this week because it’s National Sandwich Day and I’m ranty. Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against sandwiches, or a day to celebrate them. I love a good sandwich. It’s something else that’s co-opting the celebration of bread and fillings that’s leaving a bad taste in my mouth.

I feel like a super-grinch for writing this but I think that it needs to be said, if only to give people pause for thought. You see, this National Sandwich Day, Subway restaurants across Canada will be making a donation of a sandwich to Food Banks of Canada for every sandwich and drink sold. All I’m seeing in response to this is jubilation. It’s a “win-win”. Sandwiches for everyone, even the poor!

Why do I have to go and rain on this parade? Well, there’s the same issue that I raised when talking about fast food fundraisers for health organizations. This is just a marketing ploy for Subway. They come out looking like heroes for donating sandwiches to food banks while we all give them great press on social media and flood their stores with business for the day.

Because the beneficiary of this day of charity is Food Banks Canada, and the fast food company is Subway, I have some different concerns than I do with the fast food for health charitable model. Okay, Subway is not quite as “bad” as many fast food chains. That being said, processed meat and cheese are not foods that I would consider particularly healthful. The food banks also aren’t (technically) health organizations. Not in the same sense that hospitals and the MS Society are. This means that my objection is not so much with the issue of benefiting the health of some at the cost of others.

My issue here is the model of food charity. While food banks play an essential role in our country the truth is, they shouldn’t. When they first appeared on the scene in the 80s their mandate was to put themselves out of business. They’re a bandaid that’s being used to reattach a limb. Encouraging days like this Sandwish Day only serves to perpetuate the belief that food banks are solving the problem of hunger, food insecurity, and poverty. They are not.

If Subway truly wanted to help “fight hunger” they would pledge to pay all of their employees a living wage. They would offer more full-time positions and provide benefits to all their employees. One day of charity is not even a drop in the bucket. If we want reduce food insecurity then we need a Basic Income Guarantee and Living Wages across the country. Forget the subs.